Troglodyte

He's capable of lighting up this division. More than a match for anyone.

Serious or not, we ain't getting anywhere near Hiddink, Ranieri or van Gaal.

I heard we offered too much. And he didn't want to work with the guy we're bringing in as our new manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

I'm sure Marcelo Bielsa, Eddie Howe, Louis van Gaal, Claudio Ranieri and Guus Hiddink are all eagerly sat by their phones just waiting for the call. I know, I know, we'll get them to come here because The Project!

Do people actually think we could get Benítez or Nagelsmann? If so, can I have some of what you're on?

At least we can get rid of Bruce easily as he's on a rolling contract. We also don't have to give him any more money. A new manager would probably expect some funds and it wouldn't be worth also paying out for their new contract as well as a coaching team if they weren't that convincing. Besides, as crap a job as he's doing, I'm not sure most names on that list would do any better, or even give a short term boost. Edit: and I don't propose waiting indefinitely. I did say in my original post that I want us to look for a young, progressive manager. I just would rather see us take a little time to find the right one.

I want Bruce out but I'd rather keep him for now and wait until the right man is available than take any of the options in the poll. With the players we have, we need someone who will get us playing thoughtful, passing, attacking football. Personally I'd much rather we did take a bit of a gamble on a young manager with energy, intelligence and ideas than hired another "safe pair of hands". That's not to say I entirely trust the people who would decide on such a gamble, but we can't get much worse and I don't want another dinosaur.

I'm sitting on a beach in Mexico now looking out at the Caribbean sea. And I'm annoyed. Stupid bloody Villa.

What a horribly depressing list of names. I wouldn't want any of them. I'd genuinely rather take a punt on King Olof. But anyone progressive, positive and forward thinking with a plan in mind would do.

Delusional.

You think the success of Southampton's youth setup is down to one person in particular? And even if that were the case, that Aston Villa - a Championship club - would be first in line to simply 'get that guy here'?

Like others, I like Baker's attitude and he's decent at this level but not spectacular. We have Chester and Terry, with Samba in reserve and I'm perfectly happy with Jedinak as an option, which he will be more consistently now we have Whelan. Toner and Suliman have potential, too - they might not be quite ready yet (although Toner is 21 now and has a little experience) but as fifth and sixth choice I think that's fine. (I won't even consider Richards.) I don't think this is an FFP decision as I'm sure Baker would have wanted to jump at the chance to get first team football, which is clearly no longer on offer at Villa. Still good to bring in a little cash and get some wages off the books all the same. And we'd hopefully be selling him in the summer anyway if we go up. I wish him good luck but I don't think this is a huge loss at all.

I wonder what some of you lot would do if we did actually start being really good in the future. It's like you need Villa to give you something to moan about Really enjoyed the little tournament today. Looks like a few things are starting to click for us, too. Got to be a boost to the lads' confidence.

As I mentioned in his thread yesterday, Gabby easily has the qualities to get a good number of goals in the Championship. Now his head seems to be in the right place (and, dare I say, he's playing for a new contract), he could actually be an asset.

Whelan looks good. Solid positioning, decent passing, sound decisions. I like.

Get in Samba you absolute monster.

Why's Whelan wearing 10?

Yes, I prefer my football rivalries to be entirely rational affairs. Far more fun that way.

Lord above. Do you really think the players' and Bruce's response will be "Wow - this works! Let's stop training and thinking of anything new, because Elmo has created a couple of goals against a second tier German side!" You commented 30 mins into a good performance, making out we only have one plan and are now going to stick to it.

Love this. Such a Villa fan response. We're looking like we're actually starting to play in decent patterns and are easily winning a game that we're only half an hour into. The response? TRY NEW THINGS!

Elmo >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hutton.

Don't want to keep going round in circles but if we did get money for McCormack I can't see it being enough to buy someone better than what we have. Fair enough if you think that means you'd rather he stays. Personally if we get a chance to take his wages off the books for a decent offer we might as well take it if Bruce doesn't think he's up to it. However if he is focused then maybe he could be an asset, as he clearly has ability. If he does go though I think we still have enough quality up front. Even if we play one up top, we still have decent options to play behind the striker and out wide. We just need to work on creating decent chances and gelling, not bringing even more new players in.